Carlos Sainz denies straight fight with Sergio Perez, wary of Max Verstappen

Carlos Sainz concedes the fight for Sunday’s Belgian Grand Prix win is not solely between himself and Sergio Perez, Max Verstappen can also get involved from 15th on the grid.

Verstappen finished on top of the timesheet in qualifying at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit, the Red Bull driver six-tenths up on Sainz.

However, his engine penalties mean he’ll be starting from 15th place on the grid with Sainz elevated to P1 and Sergio Perez alongside him.

With Verstappen starting so far back, the championship leader one place ahead of Charles Leclerc, it begs the question: will Sunday’s race be a straight between Sainz and Perez?

The Spaniard says no as he believes Verstappen has the pace to fight his way through the field.

“Not entirely, no,” he told the official F1 website.

“Especially with the pace Max has, I think that as soon as there’s a Safety Car, that can help him close the gap, or even with the pace that he has that if you translate it into 44 laps, he can come back. And we’ve seen him do it before.

“That will not be my focus; obviously the first and second stint, it will be a straight battle with Checo and the Mercedes if they have the race pace, but we will try to pull away for sure.”

Looking to secure only the second race win of his Formula 1 career, the Ferrari driver admits he’s not overly confident ahead of Sunday’s grand prix.

In fact the only driver who can be confident of a good result is Verstappen, especially if he is given a helping hand by a Safety Car.

“If I would have done his lap that he did today,” said Sainz, “I would be confident that as soon as something happens at the front or if there is a Safety Car to close the gap, that he can make it.”

Finishes P2, starts from pole

Carlos Sainz will start Sunday's race from the front of the grid ?#BelgianGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/zerCGecx01

— Formula 1 (@F1) August 27, 2022

His team-mate Leclerc, lining up P16 on the grid, admits he’s worried about Verstappen’s pace around the Spa-Francorchamps circuit.

“When you see the gap to Max, it’s a bit worrying,” he said.

“They are extremely quick, and it’s been the case since the beginning of the weekend, and we cannot explain quite why.

“They are way too fast, there’s nothing that we could have done. We had to beat Max in qualifying but today the car is just not at that level.”